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The Nightingale ConspiracyRated T, for fantasy violence, blood, language and moderate romance (?) Bear in mind, this RP takes place in a futuristic fictional city, which Pokemon alone have built and inhabit. Humans are never mentioned.
OOC can be found here.

Raymond

Fuzzy is the best feeling. He could feel his surroundings, but he couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't move, and he barely breathed. His body's membranes were all protected, though, so that made him feel fuzzy. After a while of pondering, though, a question shot up to his mind. What is this place? Then another question. However did I end up here? And then another. Who am I? Raymond sat motionless in a dark world. From a hunch, or medical clarity that came out of nowhere, he could tell he was in a coma. An unusual coma, that was, if his brain was working just fine. His ears picked up the slightest sound in the closed room, too; he could hear many other breaths. I am not alone. The others stood motionless as well.

A voice boomed from a speaker, the sound resonating painfully loud in his ears. "You're conscious! You're conscious!" the metallic voice was saying. "Joy! You don't remember anything, do you? That's my doing, I'm sorry. A necessary precaution. Don't sweat, you'll restore your memories with your hard work. But first, let us introduce ourselves. I am the Scientist. Yes, the Scientist..." That person sounded awkward, Raymond thought. He is not comfortable... I can turn that against him, was a sudden thought, then a strong desire to break free of his chair took over his mind. Whoever this Scientist was, Raymond could not stand the thought that he had been constrained in such way. A shard of an old personality of him, perhaps, was telling him that the Scientist was afraid of him specifically, and that is why he was put into a coma. He could not remember anything of his past, or who the Scientist was, but from the way he spoke, he could come to deducing a lot of things about him. The Accelgor stayed silent on his chair, unable to move. I know... I know... he kept thinking, I can break him, I know.

The Scientist continued talking in a frantic tone that changed frequency from time to time, as if he himself was just learning how to speak properly. That voice belonged to an insecure person who was trying to hide it.

"They call me the Scientist, because I am the Scientist, after all... heh... now let me explain your situation, because that's how we'll all cooperate and benefit each other merrily. As you can see, you're strapped onto machines. I like to call them, the Dormitus 4.4.The Dormitus 4.4 is a machine that uses state of the art techmaturgy - it's a wonder of the combination of technology and magic. It measures your vital activities on a screen next to you and it makes sure your body stays healthy, despite being motionless, so you don't have to worry about moving or eating. When you fall asleep, the machine intrudes your head, specifically the area of the eyes. It reads and reproduces what you have already seen, but have forgotten! Allow me to explain. The eyes have recorded images that are forever stored on their... let's say, tissue; that's how dreams are created, I have found out, by the recollection and alteration of those random images, combined with scenarios in your mind. The Dormitus sets an order in those images in such way, that in your dream, you are effectively viewing what you have seen in the past.

When you dream and go back, you maintain conscience of both the present and the past. You have regained all of your memories, and essentially, you temporary know who you are in the past, but you do not know the future yet. That's what we all are trying to find out, peaceful and all - your future. Only, remember! Mentioning out loud your present situation in the past will force Dormitus to bring you back, as to not cause any... unwanted conundrums... with the, umm, your memories. For the sake of communicating mentally, the machines synchronize your dreams, as to make live interaction between you possible. You think of something in the present, while you are in your dream, and the others can hear you. That way, you can agree when to snap awake. You can try planning to escape, I challenge you to!

When you wake up and return to the present, you can only remember the actual experience - what you have seen yourself do in your dream, not your thoughts or any information stored in your subconscious, and begin to learn about yourself from your actions, rather than your memories. In order to unlock all of your memories in the present, you need to piece out who you are in the past, by finding out how you came to be here, in my lab..."

He paused for a second, considering. "You've much to say, yes, go on if you may. When you're ready to visit your memories, though, tell me. I'm sure... all of you are curious to know who you are, hm?"

'It's so...cold and dark. Why is it so cold and dark? Why am I cold? Wait, what am I thinking? What? Woah woah, what is this? Why am I even thinking while closing my eyes? Just gotta open them!'

Her eyes opened immediately, but squinted from the sudden burst of light. Letting them stay like that as they adjust, she could hear others around her, breathing. When her eyesight returned to normal she gasped. She couldn't lift her arm to actually put it in front of her to see, making her look down and realize she was strapped to a chair of some sort. No matter how hard she tried, the straps just wouldn't come off.

"GET OFF!" she growled, squirming, struggling, and trying everything in her might to break free. It wasn't until she felt a bump on her right ear. For a moment she thought somebody hit her, and glanced around. This only caused her to let out a girly scream. There was a Charmeleon whose tail was still ignited, giving an eerier glow to the area around him. A tall Blaziken, odd colored Porygon-Z, Zoroark, and a very familiar Accelgor. However, there were steel walls despite the grass and few trees planted. "This isn't right, why is there a steel wall?! Especially when there's grass and trees! There should be an open blue sky and more grass and trees! LET ME GO!" she started to shout and spit out nonsense. "This is all wrong! Why are we strapped into these chairs and junk? Pfft I can't even use my claws...such perfect little things for cutting," she lowered her voice and started to talk to herself, but then started to struggle again.

Minutes had passed and she was still struggling to get out. Unfortunately she didn't have much energy left, and settled down. Looking straight ahead she noticed there was a window of some sort; a shadow behind it. "How come I didn't notice this before?" she mumbled, feeling quite dumb. She glanced around again and noticed, yet, another feature; they all had a cylinder hat over their heads. Horrified, she tried to look up. Just as she feared, she had that dumb hat over her as well. "Are you kidding me, a science experiment of some sort? Great. What else is wrong with this picture?"

The Weavile closed her eyes and tried to remember past events... but nothing came up. She tried over and over again to see if she could get something out of it. Surely that Accelgor looked familiar, but she doesn't know why. In reality, she doesn't even know who she even is. Just a Weavile, from the looks of it. While the voice kept speaking, she tried her best to try to remember anything she can. She must know something! By the time she had accepted it was no use, the voice was at it's last words. "...I'm sure... all of you are curious to know who you are, hm?"

Letting it all sink in, she felt rather... confused and weak. Surely she would love to know who she once was, and yes, the scientist was right... she had plenty of questions for him. Thing was, she should try to remain calm...but she couldn't. This was all wrong in so many levels. It looks too much like an experiment of some sort. 'I wonder if the others are fine.'

"Look here. I'm glad I won't die if I don't eat an apple, but how did I get here? I can't even breathe! These straps are suffocating me!" she blurted out the last part. "And can I at least know my name?! I don't want to tell others 'Oh I wish I knew my name' since of course it would only be awkward," she added.

The darkness was almost deafning. She wasn’t even sure when her ‘sleep’, if you could call it that, ended, and her consciousness began. But ever so slowly, she realized that she was, indeed, awake, only having her eyes closed. She noticed someone nearby speaking, but she hadn’t been focused for long enough to actually hear what it was.

Without opening her eyes, she tried raising her arms to rub her palm against her forehead, when she realized she was unable to move… well, almost the entirety of her body. She kept trying to move various parts of her body, with little to no effect, which left her with the only option of slowly opening her eyes, wincing at the sudden light.

She blinked softly, tossing her head a little to move a fringe of reddish black hair out of her eyes, looking around the small… forest? No, at closer look, there were definitely steel walls all around them, aside from the trees and the grass, along with the glass in the wall dead ahead of her. Plus, who in their right mind would restrain someone to a chair outside?

That’s when she realized, she wasn’t alone. She looked left and right as best as she can, being strapped in like she was, and noticed the other Pokémon there. The most audible of which was a Weavile, seeming happy to just chatter away to herself. The Zoroark watched the others contemplatingly, trying to make sense of this situation… and figuring out how she had gotten there. And who she… were?

Blinking in surprise at this realization, her train of thought was quickly cut off by the voice speaking from the other side of the glass, she presumed. As the voice spoke, she became increasingly aware of her situation, now starting to get curious as to why exactly she and to an extent, the others, were there. As the Scientist finished his little speech, the Weavile began blurting out both questions and general complaints of being strapped down. The Zoroark couldn’t help but give a wry little smile, for some reason finding the Weavile’s actions… cute. Understandable, but still pretty adorable.

That’s when she noticed the screen standing next to each of the strapped-down Pokémon, with what she assumed were their vitals… and their name. Her own read ‘Natalia Alden’. Glancing around, she saw the others’ as well, and finally, she looked over to the Weavile and couldn’t help but put on a bit of a wry smile as she finally spoke out herself. “I have to agree with… Tesla, that would be pretty awkward to do.” As the Weavile would undoubtedly look over at her, she simply gave her a smirk and tossed her head towards one of the screens before looking back to to the shadow of the Scientist. Whatever the reason for them being here… she couldn’t figure out if he was with them, or against them. On one hand, they were strapped down, unable to move. On the other hand, he was promising to help them recover their memories.

Natalia let out a quiet sigh and tugged slightly on her bindings, unable to reach them with her claws. As she spoke out quietly to herself more than to anyone else while staring up at the tinted screen. “… Well, I suppose we don’t have a lot of choice here. You’ve put me quite on the spot.”

As far as he could tell, the Blaziken had woken up a small while before any of the others had stirred; it felt natural to be an early waker. His green eyes blinked several times until they'd adjusted to the light, his right hand reflexively reaching for his thigh. The lack of movement worried him; unable to move meant defeat at another's hands. Don't panic. When's the last time you panicked? Looking down revealed to the Blaziken that his arms, legs, and torso were strapped down to a chair he sat in.

Oh, and his feathers were half-gone in an uneven, patchy pattern, though the thought didn't bother him for some reason. Even as he watched, a small bunch just above the strap on his wrist smoldered and flared for a couple seconds, reduced to ashes. Strap doesn't look singed at all. For that matter, the chair itself didn't look flammable. Sighing, the Blaziken laid his head back to look around, but the movement made him look up, seeing the front edge of some sort of cylinder propped on his head.

"What?..." Now he was feeling a bit of panic creeping in. The Blaziken looked to one side and found a screen that stunk of 'hospital'. Which totally contradicted the grassy room with a few trees, which in turn denied the presence of the steel walls and a stained glass facing the Pokemon. Speaking of which, the Weavile was struggling. The Blaziken looked back down at his own chair, then flexed his arms. No luck there; the straps refused to give. Same with the leg-straps.

"You're conscious! You're conscious!" The sudden metallic voice rang in the Blaziken's eardrums, making him wince. "Joy! You don't remember anything, do you?"

"Ja, I do. I am..." Uhm... The Blaziken's brow furrowed as his mind scrambled for something, anything. Nothing. Panic. Nonono, don't panic. Deep breaths. Stay calm. Don't need to panic, need to panic, WHY DON'T I REMEMBER ANYTHING?! On impulse, he spat some fire at his wrist strap; the embers did nothing but burn more of his old feathers to a crisp. The Blaziken glared at the strap before looking up at the shadow behind the stained glass, breathing heavily.

Then the fire in his eyes banked as he relaxed. He'd already proven that he couldn't get out. Giving his screen a sullen glance, two words popped out at him: Felix Teufel. Is that who I am?

"I'm sure... all of you are curious to know who you are, hm?"

The Weavile did not react well to the pressure of the situation; that is, the Blaziken was sure it couldn't have been an act. At least the Zoroark wasn't visibly freaking out. The Accelgor he could see was motionless. Hm...a name isn't an identity in itself, in this case... "Why the memory wipe, if we're being held captive anyway?" the half-shed Blaziken asked.

It was all black. Dominic could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing. For a while he lay motionless in his chair, sleeping with an expression so peaceful that it looked as if nothing was wrong in the world... "What else is wrong with this picture?" exclaimed a loud, clearly upset voice, ringing through Dominic's eardrums and practically forcing him awake. His eyes immediately flickered open and just as he was about to attempt a leap, a light shone painfully bright into his eyes and he flinched, closing his eyes and then slowly opening them into a squint. Almost every move he made was quick and boisterous, for an angry Charmeleon like him didn't care for being subtle. Still squinting, he forcefully tried to throw his body forward, but it went nowhere. He tried it again. He failed. He was strapped to some kind of strange machine, and all he knew was that he wanted out and the machine disagreed with him.

Dominic began to struggle and snarl in desperation, but that didn't make his situation any better than it was. His blaring roars were like those of a Charizard in extreme stress. Enraged, a stream of fire escaped from his maw but the flames merely skittered across the glass that encased him and then burned out into nothing. Dom's anger felt so intense and out of control that he started giving himself a headache. Luckily for him, the blind rage didn't last for very long and he finally accepted the fact that letting out his wrath would do absolutely nothing. It was an upsetting thought for the likes of him, since that was the only thing he really knew to do right now.

Defeated, he made one last attempt at a thrash, albeit this time a quiet one, and then settled down as a voice different from the one before began explaining nervously through a speaker the present situation. Dom finally listened quietly and while he did so he paid more attention to his surroundings. He felt ridiculous for not doing that first, but that rage hit him and it hit him hard. He had already figured out that he was behind some sort of glass. Behind the glass he noticed trees, and around the trees there were metal walls. What is this? Am I trapped outside or inside? He shifted his eyes to look around at those in his company and saw a Blaziken with practically no feathers, an Accelgor, a Zoroark, a Weavile, and a Porygon-Z with strange colors.

By just looking at them he had a feeling they were in here for the same reason, whatever that was. After the scientist finished speaking, the Weavile began to talk back to him and Dominic realized she'd been the voice that woke him up in the first place. She seemed like she was trying very hard to appear fearless, but Dom thought she was almost convincing. Not bad. She'd begun asking about how they'd know all of their names, and the Zoroark noticed that the names were all on these screens beside them. The Weavile was Tesla. Dom looked up at the Zoroark's screen. She was Natalia. He then looked toward his own screen, flinching when he almost hit his nose on the weird thing over his head. He saw "Dominic Harrison" on his screen. My name's Dominic? That name doesn't sit well with me. Why.

The scientist said he'd let them all try to recuperate their memories, but why did they not have their memories in the first place? Did this scientist take them? What for? Dominic felt himself starting to get upset again, and he tried his best not to have another outburst. He wouldn't be able to escape and no matter how loudly he screeched and roared, nobody would fear him anyway, being as vulnerable as he was. Natalia and - Dominic looked up at the Blaziken's screen - Felix both spoke to the scientist at the same time voicing their concerns. The entire group was understandably upset and Dominic wouldn't be surprised if the chaos built up even more. He chose to stay quiet despite being tempted to scream threats at the one who dares trap him here.

Tweet Jonias

Green numbers were falling in her subconscious. However, none of the numbers made any sense. She could feel (Is feel the right word? I am sure I am not seeing in the optical sense, but...) that there is a pattern hidden among the seemingly random matrix but she could not make it out. "There is a pattern everywhere; it just takes time for anybody to fully understand it." She started to subconsciously group the numbers into 4x4 squares, the most common pattern and see if she could put some sense into it. However, before she could finish her first deciphering, a voice jubilantly pierced through the randomness.

"Joy! You don't remember anything, do you? That's my doing, I'm sorry. A necessary precaution. Don't sweat, you'll restore your memories with your hard work. But first, let us introduce ourselves. I am the Scientist. Yes, the Scientist..." She tried to open her eyes but the light blinded her. It forced her back to the darkness of a closed eye. Slowly, she opened them, letting as few light in as possible. When her vision adjusted, she saw an Accelgor, a Zoroark, a Charmeleon, a Blaziken, and a Weavile around her. All of them were strapped into a weird contraption and she found out she was also tied into one. No matter how hard she try, she could not move at all. Well, that's her theory as she was still too weak to actually exert some effort.

There were grass and several trees around her, but she could not see them quite clearly. The only thing clear to her was a screen and a stained-glass window. The screen displayed some numbers, probably vital statistics, and a name. Tweet Jonias. It felt right hearing it. As if...

"It's my name!" Tweet screamed out, finally realizing her predicament. Wherever she is, it's someplace she had never been before.

"When you wake up and return to the present, you can only remember the actual experience - what you have seen yourself do in your dream, not your thoughts or any information stored in your subconscious, and begin to learn about yourself from your actions, rather than your memories. In order to unlock all of your memories in the present, you need to piece out who you are in the past, by finding out how you came to be here, in my lab." The voice said again. Behind the stained-glass windows was a shadow. Did it just referred to itself as the Scientist? "You've much to say, yes, go on if you may. When you're ready to visit your memories, though, tell me. I'm sure... all of you are curious to know who you are, hm?"

"Look here. I'm glad I won't die if I don't eat an apple, but how did I get here? I can't even breathe! These straps are suffocating me! And can I at least know my name?! I don't want to tell others 'Oh I wish I knew my name' since of course it would only be awkward." It was the Weavile who spoke first. For some reason, the Pokemon felt familiar to Tweet. As if Tweet should know her.

“I have to agree with… Tesla, that would be pretty awkward to do.” This time, it was the Zoroark who spoke. Apparently, only the Weavile had not noticed the screen with a name displayed on it. Even if you don't have a knowledge of your name, seeing that you're labeled with a name, you can come to the conclusion that it is, indeed, your name. Even for the time being.

"Why the memory wipe, if we're being held captive anyway?" Tweet took a look at the Blaziken's screen. Felix... Tweet could not pronounce the other word. Her mind is still on haywire. After the initial confusion has settled in, a second one invaded her mind. Where are they and who is the shadow? She decided it was time for her to speak.

"Nobody is asking the crucial question. Where are we exactly and who are you? I don't understand anything that is happening," Tweet's voice came out as pseudo-robotic. "My brain is still fuzzy. Did you maybe injected us with something?"

There was a mental image of an Accelgor in the dark, right in front of him. Old and saggy, with his membranes rotted and worn, falling off with the slightest movement. His black eyes seemed forever tired, tortured by a sadness he wasn't but his gaze was piercing and intense at the same time. There was something odd about him. That is me. Isn't it? No... that cannot be. The vision shook and almost faded when a shrill voice invaded his ears. It belonged to the Weavile, who was speaking nonsense... the Accelgor in front of him smirked his face in annoyance, making a grumpy impression, a gesture that was disturbingly familiar.

Other breaths became voices, unknown to him, speaking too fast for him to comprehend. He thought he heard the word 'name'. My name. What is my name? No one has told me yet... The Accelgor in his mind nodded slightly, knowingly. This confused him to no end. Is this me? He asked himself again. Am I insane? His head started hurting, and when one of the others started a tantrum, the vision of the old Accelgor faded and he was left in the dark.

A solid voice sounded; it was a question. "Why the memory wipe, if we're being held captive anyway?" it said.

Another voice, perhaps one that belonged to a robot. "Nobody is asking the crucial question. Where are we exactly and who are you? I don't understand anything that is happening. My brain is still fuzzy. Did you maybe injected us with something?"

I should be the one asking those questions, Raymond reflected. Then, he heard a soft, awkward and melodic laugh from the speaker - he could not mistake it.

"One by one, the answers!" the Scientist chirped happily. Raymond felt disturbed. From a hunch, he knew that if the old Accelgor was still there, he would do that gesture to show he was aggravated again. His inability to answer that person behind the speaker with a hurtful comment gave birth to anger that he thought fueled his strength, but absolutely nothing happened. He couldn't move, but the Scientist went on. "First! I compressed your memories in a part of your mind you can't access. Why you ask! Heh... to give you a purpose to work with me, of course. Else why would I go through the trouble? You go exploring in those dreams, and I give you back your memories as a reward... that sounds neat, heh-heh."

He laughed again, with that same, awkward laugh, which trailed off to silence that gave Raymond the time to think. He is not comfortable around others, Raymond reflected, he is a loner of a person, probability favoring miserable over insane, no, he changed his mind, he is both. And he is attempting to get on the good side of his subjects... does not want to appear like a villain... I can break him... the thought reoccurred to him, and he felt infinitely confident for a reason he could not process.

"As for who I am," the Scientist suddenly said, in an offended tone, "I just told you. I'm the Scientist. And you're in my lab, as you can see, I mean, where else could you be, right? Scientists have labs... and you do what you're told, when you're in my lab."

Tesla's ears flickered at the sounds of the Pokemon around her. One in particular caught her attention... a Zoroark's. “I have to agree with… Tesla, that would be pretty awkward to do.” At first she was confused, blinking. Taking the hint the girl gave her, the Weavile's eyes followed the Zoroark's head and stopped at the sight of... names?

"Oh, this is certainly awkward," she mumbled to herself, baffled by the fact she overlooked that. "Wait... but why Tesla? What kind of name is that? Why couldn't it be like, I don't know, Luna or Dawn or some interesting name with meaning?" she started to ramble. After a few minutes of non-stop whining, she shut her mouth and glanced at the others. What were they thinking of her? Whatever it was, she didn't really bother to ask, for she was more curious about the mysterious voice.

Fortunately, somebody spoke that seemed to catch her interest. "Why the memory wipe, if we're being held captive anyway?"

'Don't think he'll respond to that,' she thought out, only to turn and check to see who he was on the names they had shown. "Felix.. huh." Afterwards she witnessed a Charmeleon struggle and a Porygon ask more questions. Questions were nice, yes, but she wanted to get out of the seat already and the questions were only going to pro-long it. If she wanted to get out... she had to follow what the Scientist wanted them to do. "Keep asking questions, why don't you. He's completely going to give you a straight answer," she mumbled as she leaned her head back, waiting to see the answers the scientist gives. It was then the speakers had revealed the same voice. Halfway through the explanation however, her head rose. Tesla was rather surprised the Scientist answered them, and listened intently to the short answers the speakers give. When the voice had finished, Tesla had already thought up of what to say.

"I dont' know, a child's secret room?" she answered to the voice. She just had to respond to that. "But sorry to interrupt-" Tesla started, then stopped. 'Eh, more like... ask more questions, and not interrupt, but whatever.' She cleared her throat. "Can we just get this over with? if it gets us out of here, and recover our memory for who we are... then eh, let's do it now." She ran out of things to say near the end, causing her to repeat what she had said. Not that she cared about her reputation. It was ruined the moment somebody "hinted" her the names were already there.

Again, he heard that voice that he disliked for some reason... it belonged to a Weavile. She was asking the Scientist to get going with the procedure. Raymond was not sure he wanted to explore his dreams. He wanted to stay here... but trying to break out of a coma would be futile. There was no option. He had to go with the flow... so, I will meet these people in the past. I will know who I am, and what my name is.

The Scientist sounded from the speaker. "Of course, yes, that is what I want, to get this over with, I have other things to do anyways... well, then, heh. I will simply put you to sleep with some gas! That should get the Dormitus 4.4 working, you don't have to do anything, don't worry, I said don't worry, in case you didn't hear." A bleep sounded and a disturbing fssst filled the room. "Fastest way to sleep, hehe. Sorry, I guess. Sweet dreams!"

It felt no different to Raymond, when he inhaled the sleeping gas. But after a while, his mind seemed to blur and slow down, until the dark engulfed him, and he was truly sleeping.

Past

Drip. Drop. A green liquid was falling from the ceiling, forming a disgusting, dark pond on a dent. The rest of the steel floor was covered by grass, vines that escalated and covered the walls, rocks here and there. The only source of light was the sun's rays, coming through the dark-red tinted window that viewed the metropolis of Newhaven. There was a huge leaf on the far end of the room that served as a chair, a few dark membranes scattered here and there around it. Next to it the only techmaturgical object in the room: a touch screen that allowed access to every computer on the Maverick Manor and its defenses.

Drip. Drop. Raymond was leaning backwards on the leaf, grasping his membranes tightly, listening to the repetitive sound with his eyes shut. His mind was at ease, now that he had finished the first part of his grand plan and was ready to present it to his associates. He had prepared slides to show them on the big screen, as to make the presentation live. And more comprehensible. There was no detail, no possibility he had left unchecked; in a few days, the government would be drowned in chaos by the endeavors of the Nightingales.

Another sound reached his ears: a bleep from the screen in front of him. He opened his eyes. The room was painted in the same dim, oddly colored light that gave a sickening impression to anyone but him. He slowly raised a hand to press on a notification displayed on the touch screen. It was his butler, Winston, waiting outside the door. Although Winston didn't need doors to enter rooms, knocking was the etiquette in Maverick Manor. As soon as the notification was off the screen, a tall shadow appeared on the wall, slowly materializing into something dark that was fully past the wall: a bulky Dusknoir who was wearing a golden bracelet on each wrist.

"Sir, the riffraff are arrived," Winston said in a deep english accent and his customary, subtle, mocking half-grin adorning his shady face.

"The Nightingales, you meant to say," Raymond corrected him, unsmiling at his butler's inappropriate comment. He'd gotten used to his butler's atrocious speech, after all these years of having to bear listening to him.

"Of course, as you say," he replied in the same tone that gave his words a sarcastic impression.

"Were they followed?"

"Negative, as far as I am concerned."

Raymond nodded.

"I shall inform them of your grand but belated entrance, sir." The Dusknoir launched himself at the ceiling, becoming a shadow and disappearing out of sight. The room was left in near silence.

Drip. Drop. Raymond remained motionless, pondering on what the sound suggested... he decided he would find out soon enough.

***

This room was very different than the other one. It was the formal chamber of audience Raymond would use to greet any guests he might have. It wasn't used in a long time, so he'd had Winston clean it up and bring a few more chairs to host his special visitors today. It was an empty room, apart from the desk and the five chairs forming a semi circle around it.

He made himself comfortable in his chair made of leaves, braiding his hands in front of him. Behind his chair, there was no wall - only a window that allowed full view of the center of Newhaven, Acter, from up high, though not quite as high as the Castle of Acter. His butler was standing tall behind him, having stepped aside to allow view to the visitors; for once, he was quiet. Perhaps he could feel the anticipation in the air, and so he decided it was not the time for a dryly witty and offensive remark to any of their guests.

"Welcome to Maverick Manor," Sir Raymond almost gagged at the necessary courtesy he made to the five people that were sitting across his wooden desk. His eyes fell onto each of them, examining them individually to detect any signs of regrets, tension or reluctance. Hell, he was planning a conspiracy. There was always a traitor. He was determined to find that traitor and expel them from the equation. It could get harsh, then. He had better set a few things straight with them, so they thought doubly before crossing him.

Leaning forward, his hands still braided, his pupils dilated when he spoke, using a low, coarse tone, as if he was afraid to waste too much of his voice. "I am well acquainted with each of you, even though we have not met in person." He glanced at Tesla. She was a different case. "I like to be careful," he continued slowly. "I know your strengths, I know your weaknesses... and I know your faults." A friendly reminder that they were all dirty, and that if the plan was compromised, nobody would come clean.

Raymond looked at every guest of his individually once again, deciding it was to time to introduce them to each other.

First was Tesla, the Weavile who knew him better than anyone in the room, except Winston. She was also the person who could annoy him more than Winston; he had never met somebody more persistent and obsessive... "Meet Tesla Arana," he spoke out loud, "my personal nurse and the medic of our operations." I dare anyone to doubt her usefulness, Raymond thought with mild satisfaction hidden behind his serious, professional expression.

His gaze fell to the right, to the female Zoroark. He had spoken to her only through the hard line for business purposes; he only kept her close because of her professionalism. "That is Natalia Alden, the silent element of our company. Call her a thief, if you want."

Next in line was the Porygon Z, whom he had seen only a few times in person. He did good business with Tweet, he liked to admit; she supplied the underground networks he maintained with the latest Hextech weaponry. "Tweet Jonias, our technician and weapon manufacturer."

The person next to tweet was a Blaziken with a stony face. Another professional. I have made good choices. "That is Felix Teufel, an Enforcer, indeed. Do not be alarmed, he can be trusted." Raymond was well aware that Felix frequented the underground Casino to play cards with the thieves and the scum that lived down there. He had to be especially careful with Teufel, so he had Winston film him in the act, in case the need to use the material ever rose.

"And lastly, Dominic Harrison, our marksman." The Charmeleon was last. From his sources, Raymond knew Dom was a criminal.

Having finished with the introductions, he rotated his chair to the side and stood up, walking to the window with the majestic view. He stood with his back turned and his hands behind his back. "I will not make you swear an oath of secrecy. Words are wind. You all know why you are here. We were all born and raised in a beautiful city, with an ugly regime. The people yearn for freedom, but they fear to step up and grasp it. While they stay motionless, reluctant to take action against their government, we must work in the dark. We must become the idea that will drive them forward into the revolution that will free Newhaven from the tyrants. A force so elegant, simple, yet severe, able to make everything fall into place with the slightest touch..." He was sure not everyone was following him. They would understand, soon.

The Accelgor turned to face them with a hard expression. "My grand plan will, bit by bit, weaken the government while strengthening the people. The Generals must be put down, in that instance, we all concur. The question is how," he took a step towards them, then pulled down an almost invisible cord near him. A huge roll of solid paper suddenly unfolded, covering the window behind him and leaving them partly in the dark. A second later, a machine on the ceiling started working, projecting light at the material, forming a screen.

The first slide was showing a tall glass building with many floors, with a sign above the entrance, reading: "National Bank of Newhaven". "We hit the bank," Raymond said, straight to the point. "To get our message across. To show the people the government is not indestructibleand does not always succeed in protecting its funds.By hitting the National Bank, we destroy government funds. With no funds, Newhaven will not continue to be the superpower the Generals envision... but that is not the important part. If we make it known that this is an act of liberation, an answer to the government for their crimes... it will be our first step towards stirring the people. They may not feel like revolting, things do not seem so bright at the time being. But revolution is not the apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall."

He went and sat on his chair, rotating it so that he could look at the bank. "Hitting a bank certainly does not sound like an easy thing to do. Especially this bank. I have devised a plan of my own, but I welcome suggestions. How would you make your approach here? Is there any place in particular you see yourself being in, when carrying out the plan? Speak up."

As the group of five were waiting for Raymond to enter the audience chamber, Natalia sat with one leg crossed over the other, leaned back rather comfortably-looking in her chair with her arms on the armrests and her long hair draped over the back of the chair she was sitting in. She slowly glanced left and right to look over the others that had arrived almost alongside her and were waiting as well before looking ahead again, silently considering the different personalities of the ones around her.

As Raymond entered and started to introduce the group to each other and he reached Natalia, she smirked softly, waving her hand faintly in the air. “I’d –prefer- Thief actually. Take as much pride and joy in your work as I do, it’d almost be a crime not to be called as such.” She continued to listen to the others being introduced, raising her brows slightly at the introduction of the Charmeleon named Dominic. He can’t be much older than twenty… hmm. Interesting.

She turned back to Raymond as he continued to explain, though the talk of freedom and liberation quite frankly started to bore her. Sure, people should live the lives they wanted to, but it was just tedious to be getting a speech like this. She was fairly sure that if she hadn’t owed him anything, and if she didn’t think she’d be able to make a profit off of this, she wouldn’t even be there.

Speaking of, as soon as Raymond let the projector screen fall and the light shone onto it, Natalia’s ears perked and her head tilted a little to the side at the announcement of them going to rob the national bank, of all places. Her lips twisted into a smooth grin as she folded one arm across her chest, the other resting on top of it as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. I’ve always wanted to get into that place. Though I’m not sure if Raymond would even want the money inside… seems to me like he’s more focused on making a statement than getting rich… or, at least, richer than he already is. Ah well. I’ll just have to make up a few plans of my own.

As Raymond invited everyone to come with their own ideas, Natalia broke in as the first, her smooth, calm voice sounding almost playfully soothing. “I, personally, am all for this target to be our first. I’d suggest we do it stealthily, rather than bursting in, guns blazing. Both considering how unrefined of an approach that is, and… well, the size of our little ‘revolutionary’ group.” She paused for a moment, glancing at the others before speaking again.

“I think we should hear plan A before we start trying to think up plan B and plan C. Who knows, maybe you’re actually onto something, Ray’.” She gave the Accelgor a sly smile and a wink before resting her elbow on the chair’s armrest, and then placed her chin in her palm, waiting for the others to chip in with their thoughts.

The robotic voice of the Porygon-Z spoke up over the chattering of the others. "Nobody is asking the crucial question. Where are we exactly and who are you? I don't understand anything that is happening. My brain is still fuzzy. Did you maybe injected us with something?" Dominic let his gaze slowly wander up to the ceiling and rested his glassy yellow eyes on a tiny growth of mold. The Scientist laughed a heartfelt laugh in response to the artificial Pokémon and told the group that the answers'd come one by one. Dominic quickly looked at the Scientist again and listened to what he had to say, feeling himself grow impatient with his words and with the fact that he was laughing for no good reason.
Well, it's not like we're in this lab by choice. Why should we listen to you. He peered down at the straps that held his arms securely in place and his face contorted with defeat. At this point Dominic was glad that the Weavile had such a big mouth, because then she could say what most of them were probably thinking but were too exhausted or upset to say. Finally, it was agreed that the process would be started and they could begin working at getting their memories back. The quicker this was done, the quicker they'd hopefully be home free. The Scientist announced that they'd be put to sleep with gas, and though that kind of thing would normally scare Dominic into struggling and snarling some more, he did his best to bear it and allow the gas to take him over.

Dominic sat calmly in the nearly empty room, occasionally glancing at the four others who sat by him. The chairs they occupied formed a semicircle around a desk, and that was pretty much all there was to notice in the room besides the large window that allowed them a view of the metropolis. The Accelgor, Sir Raymond, welcomed the five guests and introduced their names and specialties. Dominic observed each one as they were introduced, and when his name was called he just slightly bowed his head.

He noticed the Zoroark, Natalia, raising her brows when his name was called. He studied her and his lips curled into a very, very slight smile that could be easily missed if he wasn't given complete, undivided attention. She seemed to be the confident type of person who did anything and everything with a professional approach. "My grand plan will, bit by bit, weaken the government while strengthening the people. The Generals must be put down, in that instance, we all concur. The question is how."

The room darkened and Dominic's eyelids fluttered as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting. Sir Raymond displayed a slideshow on the thick paper he had pulled over the window. The first slide showed a photograph of the National Bank of Newhaven; it was admittedly a nice building, made out of clear, shiny glass and being many stories high. "We hit the bank to get our message across." Raymond's plan was to shed light on the government's weakness and convince the people to revolt against it. He stated that he already had a plan fleshed out, but he welcomed the others to come forth with a plan of their own if they had one.

The Zoroark said she thought it'd be a better idea to listen to Raymond's plan first and all the others afterward. "I agree with her. Though I have to ask, how severely are we meaning to hit the bank? I could sneak in some dynamite and pyrotol and blow it to the ground, but if you were hoping to come out of this mission with a little dough in your pockets then I'd say my plan's not a good one, unless we steal first and risk getting caught and then detonate the bombs. But really, I think you should tell us first since you are the brains of this operation," Dom said.

Tweet Jonias

"Of course, yes, that is what I want, to get this over with, I have other things to do anyways... well, then, heh. I will simply put you to sleep with some gas! That should get the Dormitus 4.4 working, you don't have to do anything, don't worry, I said don't worry, in case you didn't hear," the Scientist merrily said as if this was standard protocol. Tweet heard the sharp whizz of gas escaping.

"Fastest way to sleep, hehe. Sorry, I guess. Sweet dreams!" In no time, Tweet was asleep.

Past

The Accelgor came in the room, obviously feeling in control of the whole group, including Tweet. Huh, he has the nerve. Tweet followed the man's path across the room until he eased himself on his chair. His butler, a ghastly Dusknoir was waiting for his Master. The Accelgor spoke, his voice deep and mysterious.

"Welcome to Maverick Manor," Raymond Maverick said. He proceeded to introduce each one of the people around the table. Tweet have interacted with Maverick a few times but the others were total strangers to her. She was even surprised to see an Enforcer amidst them, a Blaziken whose feathers lost their brilliance probably a long time ago. Tweet would never know.

Raymond Maverick then stood up, his hands and went to the window. Alright, who gave Ray the cue for cliche criminal pose? "I will not make you swear an oath of secrecy. Words are wind. You all know why you are here. We were all born and raised in a beautiful city, with an ugly regime. The people yearn for freedom, but they fear to step up and grasp it," Accelgor said, his voice not missing a beat. High-lo-high-low. "While they stay motionless, reluctant to take action against their government, we must work in the dark. We must become the idea that will drive them forward into the revolution that will free Newhaven from the tyrants. A force so elegant, simple, yet severe, able to make everything fall into place with the slightest touch," Accelgor finished with a deep-drawn breath. Tweet looked around and saw that everybody's attention, even the Dusknoir's was fixed on Raymond.

The crucial moment came a beat too soon. Raymond revealed that they will start with the robbing of a bank, a feat that Tweet though to be too easy as they have a Zoroark with them, a master thief. What else could go wrong? Well, of course they would have to hit the bank, the single most protected fortress in Newhaven. Everything just went from this-is-to-easy to gods-be-merciful-we-stay-alive.

"Hitting a bank certainly does not sound like an easy thing to do. Especially this bank. I have devised a plan of my own, but I welcome suggestions. How would you make your approach here? Is there any place in particular you see yourself being in, when carrying out the plan? Speak up," Accelgor said, sweeping a glance with his chosen elites. Of course, it would be the thief who spoke up first. She's in her zone.

“I, personally, am all for this target to be our first. I’d suggest we do it stealthily, rather than bursting in, guns blazing. Both considering how unrefined of an approach that is, and… well, the size of our little ‘revolutionary’ group. I think we should hear plan A before we start trying to think up plan B and plan C. Who knows, maybe you’re actually onto something, Ray’," Natalia Alden, for that was the Zoroark's name if Tweet's memory served right, said.

The Charmeleon, Dominic Harrison, spoke next. Huh, shady characters after shady characters. "I agree with her. Though I have to ask, how severely are we meaning to hit the bank? I could sneak in some dynamite and pyrotol and blow it to the ground, but if you were hoping to come out of this mission with a little dough in your pockets then I'd say my plan's not a good one, unless we steal first and risk getting caught and then detonate the bombs. But really, I think you should tell us first since you are the brains of this operation," he said. It was time for the Technician to interject.

"As what the Charmeleon said, our way of attacking would all depend on how big a damage we wanted to cause. If we wanted a big explosion, I could supply you guys with a Shock-modded SPAS-12 or Striker each. I could also provide the standard frag grenades if you really want to go out with a boom. However, if we wanted to do an even bigger damage, we must attack them from the inside. If I could be escorted into their main vault and computers, I could easily hack into their database and delete all monetary records of most of the powerplayers in this city," Tweet said, improvising upon her idea as she was telling it. "After I manage to bypass their vaults, we go steal a few moolah if that's our priority, then we quickly go out. It'll cause confusion throughout the city in no time. No explosions, minimal person requirement. We could also anonymously claim we are behind the sabotage after its broadcast. That'll cause more confusion than before as we are still technically an invisible group."

"Of course, yes, that is what I want, to get this over with, I have other things to do anyways... well, then, heh. I will simply put you to sleep with some gas! That should get the Dormitus 4.4 working, you don't have to do anything, don't worry, I said don't worry, in case you didn't hear." A bleep sounded and a disturbing fssst filled the room. "Fastest way to sleep, hehe. Sorry, I guess. Sweet dreams!"

"Finally, at least we're going somewhere," she mumbled, waiting for the gas to takes its effect. As she inhaled it, her mind started to grow heavy and foggy. Closing her eyes, she let the darkness engulf her.

- - - - -

Tesla entered a room with a desk and a semi circle of chairs surrounding it. What caught her breathe away was the huge window that showed the scenery behind. Of course, she closed her mouth and fixed herself so she didn't look impressed. She didn't want people knowing who she really was, now, did she? She sat on one of the wooden chairs. A smirk burst into her face seeing Raymond's figure. It felt good to know one person out of a room full of strangers. In fact, she might as well call him an "old friend" of some sort... but of course, he never took his meds. He doesn't deserve the title... yet.

"Welcome to Maverick Manor," Raymond started to speak. Tesla payed attention to his tone and his body language. She enjoyed seeing him use courtesy and trying to get a point across. His eyes checked everyone in this room, including her. "I am well acquainted with each of you, even though we have not met in person." With that said, he glanced at Tesla, who smirked back. He continued to speak while Tesla glanced around at the others. However this got interrupted when she heard her name. "Meet Tesla Arana," he spoke out loud, "my personal nurse and the medic of our operations." Feeling joy and pride, she closed her eyes and raised her hands in triumph.

"Yep, me me... this girl raising her hand," she looked down wit her hand raised, just in case they needed a signal from the very person. As Raymond continued introducing, she glanced at each new individual here. Natalia was a thief? Good thing, since she's a Zoroark. She couldn't imagine her being anything else.

“I’d –prefer- Thief actually. Take as much pride and joy in your work as I do, it’d almost be a crime not to be called as such,” she added. Tesla folded her arms and glanced ahead to the scenery behind Raymond.

"Then let me be the first to commit that crime," she mumbled, imagining the scene that would be caused by such a thing. Raymond continued until he reached Felix. 'Oh he can be trusted alright... we have a thief, a technician, and now an Enforcer. Complete trust in all, can't we say?' she thought, giving the Blaziken a quick curious look before returning to the window. When Raymond reached Dominic, Tesla turned towards the Charmeleon. He looked quite young, making her feel like she fit in. 'Hopefully he is as young as me... but hey, I love standing out of the crowd,' she kept thinking, distracted in her own thoughts.

She started to pay attention as soon as Raymond started another speech. Unfortunately it wasn't long before the window got covered, making Tesla quite sad. She loved the view and the light that poured in. She pouted.

"We hit the bank," Raymond went straight to the point. Tesla didn't mind doing such things, since there was nothing else she could really live for. Of course, she'll have her chance to... figure out Raymond more so that he gains enough trust so that her meds can be given without reluctance. Until that day comes, she'll be here waiting and getting to know him some more. Of course, there's others here too.. who can help.

The Thief started to speak once more, catching Tesla's attention. “I, personally, am all for this target to be our first. I’d suggest we do it stealthily, rather than bursting in, guns blazing. Both considering how unrefined of an approach that is, and… well, the size of our little ‘revolutionary’ group.”

"We may be little, but we carry a big package," Tesla tried to lower her tone, seeing as the others haven't spoken yet. That's when the Charmeleon spoke up for Natalia.

"I agree with her," Dominic began. He explained his thoughts out, which seemed pretty reasonable for somebody so young-looking.

"As what the Charmeleon said," Tweet began, catching Tesla's full attention. She had the biggest idea so far, one that Tesla didn't find too bad. When she saw she and Felix were the only ones left to speak up, she cleared her throat. She didn't know what to say... everything was pretty much said.

"Eh, what can I say? They all said what I was gonna say," she shrugged. "Besides, we have a Thief here." That's all she could say, nothing more. If she had said out her thoughts, it would only be a different version of what everybody had said. Maybe Felix had some different input nobody has said thus far? She would love to hear it.

Oh, yeah, a fair trade, except that you hid our memories from us. Wait, trade? Why did the Scientist want them exploring their dreams? The whole set-up seemed to the Blaziken less like a mere experiment than like a punishment of some sort. As he waited for the talking to wear out, he frowned. The Blaziken's last thought before he breathed in the gas was, There's more than one way to pull information out of a Pokemon...

~~~~~Felix Teufel
Maverick Manor

Hands loosely curled over the ends of his chair's arms, feet flat on floor. No reason to kick back when they were talking business, though that didn't mean the Blaziken's straight posture wasn't relaxed. He didn't expect much trouble, yet neither was it ever definite that trouble wouldn't arise. To that purpose, Felix Teufel was adamant on keeping his pistol, which sat in its holster on his right thigh, and belt, though he had few gadgets at the moment. Ready for action, but not expecting it in this room.

"I am well acquainted with each of you, even though we have not met in person." Makes sense for a crime lord. "I like to be careful," Sir Raymond continued slowly. "I know your strengths, I know your weaknesses... and I know your faults."

Tesla Arana, a medic. Young, proud to point herself out. Didn't look much like she'd be of use beyond being a medic, but who knows? Natalie Alden, who prefers 'thief'. Relaxed, probably laid back in life, not silent in conversation since she spoke up as well. Tweet Jonias, who likely knew more about technology than any of the rest of them. Apparently a female, though machines often went without identifying to any gender.

"That is Felix Teufel, an Enforcer, indeed. Do not be alarmed, he can be trusted." Felix merely nodded in response. What was a crime lord without information? If Sir Raymond knew of him and how to contact him, he knew of Felix's general activities. The Blaziken idly wished he could know as much about the Accelgor.

Dominic Harrison, apparently a marksman. The Charmeleon looked calm; nothing, really, to point to any criminals Felix knew of. For all he knew, Dominic could have been a perfect, law-abiding citizen up to now.

As Raymond laid out his plan, Felix remained silent as usual. No interruptions meant the talking could finish sooner-- Hit the National Bank? Raymond was either crazy, or had a genius plan. However, less risk, less reward. And a Pokemon could not avoid risk forever. Natalia's approach was stealth rather than charging in, which made sense, of course. As it turned out, Dominic's area of expertise included demolitions. Both the Zoroark and the Charmeleon were willing to listen to Raymond's plan.

Tweet expanded a bit on Dominic's idea before suggesting they hit the records rather than the building. Felix slightly raised an eyebrow; he could really help if they did something like that. At least, he thought he could get away with it without being found out. If he was found out...well, there was no backing out of this conspiracy either way.

As Tesla had nothing to add, Felix cleared his throat before speaking. "It is more likely to succeed zee less zey know of it beforehand." His deep voice's accent resembled what we'd call German. "I vould recommend somesing like vat Tweet said. Depending on ven vee do zis, I vill be on duty at zee bank and can help viz security."

He drummed his hand on the desk rhythmically while leaning on his elbow, listening to the Nightingales speak their mind one by one and nodding occasionally, without looking at them. His mind was processing the information and suggestions, giving the formula of a plan shape and form. Those who asked him to tell them his plan were profoundly ignored; he wanted their insight, before putting the finishing touches. Each time one of them said something that interested him, he quickly glanced up at them, then averted his eyes again to put some thought into it.

Typical of the thief, Natalia suggested that they be stealthy. Of course, the risk and the cost of an armed robbery was too high. The idea was so enticing, though, it almost brought a subtle, small grin of satisfaction on his lips.

Dominic was all about explosives, and Sir Raymond couldn't stress how perfect the option of blowing up something was. If there was one way of getting attention, it is explosions in Acter, close to the Generals. He gave a small nod towards the Charmeleon, ignoring his request of revealing his original plan.

He wasn't disappointed with Tweet. An attack from the inside was a key element he had failed to think of thoroughly yet. As for the phone call... he was planning on it. The phone call he was going to make was the key to the whole operation. That brought the grin of satisfaction of before, though he hid it with his hand until it faded. With Tweet's additional insight, it felt as if his plan had succeeded already.

Felix spoke last, his voice heavy with an accent. Raymond's associates in the Enforcers could get Felix into the bank's militarized security. That would give them a man inside... another important element in the operation.

When they were done, Raymond nodded again, deciding he was ready to share his own insight as the mastermind of the Nightingales. "Stealth is either not being seen, or not letting there be witnesses," he said in an enigmatic tone that was falsely suggesting. He was not about to hurt innocents... but getting them out of the way would be necessary.

He rotated his chair around, so he could view the screen, then gestured at his butler, who changed the slide. The outside of the bank was gone. The interiors were shown, the main hall where the transactions happened. Winston himself had took the photo with a camera he was hiding inside his ghostly body, on his last visit to the bank.

"My plan is as follows," Raymond started, "I am going to enter the bank, escorted by my nurse. Natalia will also be following us, under the guise of my butler Winston. We will take the stairs up to go to the offices; I have scheduled a meeting with the president regarding my accounts."

The slide changed again, this time into a darker place. It was a sewage pipe with dark green waters flowing, grills from above being the only source of light; these grills allowed the water from the streets to fall into the sewers, when it's raining. That ought to have been the stinkiest place that most of the Pokemon in this room would steer clear of, though he bet he had chosen the most suitable person for the job.

"Dominic is to enter the sewers and plant explosives all across the street outside the bank. The explosions should not harm the bank nor its foundations, if placed strategically on the other side of the street and are the right kind. Destroying a bank would mean effectively destroying the economy of our nation. The explosives will make the street collapsed into the sewers, instead. Ensure the explosion doesn't find you down there," Raymond said to the Charmeleon, then glanced at Tweet, the back of his chair still turned to them. "The explosions are needed to be most powerful in height, not in range, otherwise we risk causing the entire neighborhood to collapse. You are to supply Dominic with precisely what he needs."

He drew a deep breath, forging the situation in his mind with his imagination as he had done so many times before. It was impossible to resist the urge to smile at the brilliance of it all. "Once Dominic gives the signal, I, from the offices, I will phone the Castle of Acter and inform them anonymously that the bank is rigged with explosives. Natalia will imitate the president's voice in a phone call that will be made seconds later, confirming the attack. When the Generals hear that Newhaven's National Bank is under attack, they will be deploy all of the Enforcers to protect it at all costs; we only have one bank, after all. That should suffice as a wave of panic inside the bank."

The slide changed again. It was the door that led to the inner ground floor, where non-authorized visitors were off-limits; Raymond and Winston had visited there on their way underground, to the high-security vaults where he had recently withdrawn all of the gold he stored there, in case the bank job went wrong. "Felix here will have been assigned to hold security there. He will silently take out any security and shut the communications channel, as to make communication with the Enforcers from the inside impossible."

He rotated his chair to look at them once again, his smile having now a sharp cutting edge as the plan escalated. "Tesla, as a medic, will escort everyone, excluding me, out of the building to the street, and make sure we are alone. The task force of the Enforcers should have arrived by then, and she is to lie about suspicious activity inside, precisely mention that the high security vaults are shut, and that communication with the guards was made impossible. I do not think any of the cops will be willing to march inside the bank, when it is made apparent that it's ready to explode into a trillion little bits."

It was Tweet's turn. The slide changed, showing the side of the building of the National Bank. It was an air vent. "Tweet will fly to the side of the building, into the air vents to gain entry. Felix should have opened the doors to the vaults by then; the computers of the bank are all there for Tweet to have her way with them. Delete everything that is related to the government. Leave a virus to your liking as a personal touch. Meanwhile, Natalia will proceed to the main vault. The defenses there cannot be disabled by the facility Tweet will be using; our thief will have to bypass them... manually. I am confident in Natalia's skills. Once she is inside the vault, she will deactivate its defenses from the inside for a safe exit.

"Now, there are many ways to make our exit. The choice I would personally make is, detonate the explosives on the street, right where all the Enforcers are gathered, and run away in the confusion. Chances are slim anyone would notice, but I welcome other suggestions."

Natalia’s lips curled into a small smile, glancing around at the others who seemed at least somewhat relieved at the fact that she was there for the heist. Felix caught her attention somewhat, with his… peculiar accent, and once he had finished, she cleared her throat softly.

“You sure have a lot of confidence in my abilities, which I’m grateful for, but don’t you think that if robbing the bank had been easy for me, I would’ve done it sooner?”

She glanced around at their reactions with a wry little smirk before looking back to Raymond, shifting around to move her left leg across her right, folding her arms across her chest and watching the slides, nodding softly and listening to the plan.

In general, she liked the plan. It was sophisticated, it required wits and skill from all of them and, most importantly in her mind, she would be the first one in the vault. This prompted a near sightless grin on her lips, raising her hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear with one of her claws while nodding softly in response to him asking for suggestions.

“Mmh… I like it. You really have looked into us and figured out our different strengths, haven’t you?” She tilted her head softly to look over Raymond, a little snicker escaping her. “As long as every other obstacle is removed, which, from the sound of your plan they will be, I should be able to get past the defenses surrounding the vault on my own.”

She paused, trailing a claw softly over the armrest of her chair, looking intently up at the plans, eyes shifting back and forth while trying to find any flaws with the plan. “I suggest we make our way away from the bank separately as to not get seen or caught together, and meet up at a designated safehouse. The front door, after detonating the explosives is definitely the best bet for this. I can, of course, just take on the form of someone else and saunter out, but it shouldn’t be an issue for the rest of you either. And I take it that we’ll make sure the president of the bank doesn’t interfere with our call? Mind you, I need to at least hear his voice before I can imitate it properly.”

Felix's accent caught her off-guard, causing her to change her ear positions and lean a bit closer to hear him. Despite the odd accent, she loved it. It somehow intrigued her, and sounded... alluring? She wasn't sure how to describe it. 'Ugh, the Blaziken has a much better voice than I do! I need to learn that accent some day!' she thought, her hands on her head. Unfortunately she payed too much attention on the accent and none at all at what he was actually saying. When she noticed Sir Raymond was making a beat, she copied it just for the fun of it. It didn't last a while though.

He turned around to stare at the screen. After the Dusknoir switched slides, he began speaking of his plan. "My plan is as follows," Raymond started, "I am going to enter the bank, escorted by my nurse. Natalia will also be following us, under the guise of my butler Winston. We will take the stairs up to go to the offices; I have scheduled a meeting with the president regarding my accounts." Tesla folded her arms and put one leg over the other. She felt rather important now, and placed a smirk on her face. However, her role was pretty important, causing her to gulp when he had said it. 'Soo.... I have to get everybody's behind out of the bank? To the street outside? AND to top it off, lie to Enforcers about what had happened inside? Pffft, I'll manage.' She glanced at Raymond.

"Promise I'll complete my role to perfection," she placed her hand over her heart, but it was said in a low enough tone that only the one beside her could hear.

"Now, there are many ways to make our exit. The choice I would personally make is, detonate the explosives on the street, right where all the Enforcers are gathered, and run away in the confusion. Chances are slim anyone would notice, but I welcome other suggestions." Tesla pondered long and hard, wondering if there was anything she could perfect. She thought it was rather silly to run away in confusion... then again she's done it before, and can easily fake it by thinking about horrors chasing after her. She used to do it when she was a child; why not again now?

That's when the Zoroark spoke up."Always speaks first, eh?" Tesla noted to herself. She let out her own ideas, making it seem as if she has it all under control. 'Of course you are a thief, you would think like that, wouldn't you?' Tesla thought. '...wonder how I would be if I were a thief.'

"I suggest we make our way away from the bank separately as to not get seen or caught together, and meet up at a designated safe house. The front door, after detonating the explosives is definitely the best bet for this. I can, of course, just take on the form of someone else and saunter out, but it shouldn't be an issue for the rest of you either-"

"As long as we do the mission we're good," she said under her breath, not caring how it's being done. It was low enough for nobody to hear. Then again she'd have less responsibility if they follow the Thief's plan. Besides, they still need to hear the other's opinions. Tweet's was the one she was waiting for hear.

Dominic listened to the opinions of Tweet, Tesla, and Felix, looking at them politely as they spoke. Tweet offered a couple of different plans, one of them involving her hacking into the computers in the bank and screwing around with the system. Dominic couldn't help but admire her. He always held people who could hack computers in high regard, because he couldn't even create a decent looking Word file without messing up dozens of times beforehand. He thought more about her suggestions while staring at the floor, thinking it would be rather effective to anonymously take the blame for the attack. That way it would be harder for the government to try and cover it up, lie about what exactly happened, or blame it on someone else who obviously couldn't have had anything to do with the whole thing (well, that depended on how much information the group gave out). Tesla said that her words had practically been taken out of her mouth, so she offered no alternate plans. Felix seconded Tweet's idea.

Dom blinked quickly, snapping out of his trance once he realized that he had probably been spacing out during important information. He nodded as his part in the plot was explained to him. He was to spread out some explosives around the sewers under the street of the bank, but on the opposite side of where the building stood. So, the idea wasn't to hurt the bank, but to make everyone think it was in grave danger. Terrify them. Dominic was quite fond of this plan no matter how it was carried out. The grandiose shattering of the city street would be way fun!

"Ensure the explosion doesn't find you down there," Raymond said. Dominic chuckled. "Good to know I don't have to take the role of a suicide bomber in this," he said with a smile. "I wouldn't have any extremities right now if I wasn't always careful. I'd be constantly falling out of my chair during this meeting, and probably crying from my lack of pain medication." Raymond switched slides as he continued on. The Charmeleon thought the plan was a good one, and he was couldn't stop thinking of the fear and damage that they'd strike into everyone's hearts. Granted, some of them didn't deserve what was coming to them, but others deserved way worse. "Can we plant nail bombs above ground?" Dom asked in a tiny voice, mostly to himself since he was well aware that that wouldn't help the main plan be any more efficient and was therefore unnecessary.

Natalia expressed concern over all of them running out together and Dominic knew she had a good point. If they went through with Tweet's idea and anonymously announced themselves as a group of attackers, and then ran off in a large group, they'd be easily spotted and questioned. Escaping separately was the best bet. Dominic kept quiet for now so as to give the others a chance to speak up.

Tweet Jonias

Raymond Maverick narrated his plan of attack. It was an ingenious plan; mixing both of Tweet's hacking plan and Dominic's simple love for explosion. Tweet would be lying if she says she's not impressed with Raymond's plan but it would be an over-exaggeration if she says that its the best plan ever. There are still some things she don't like about the plan; how all of their resistance force would be on-site and the possibility of capture. While Tweet's plan would reduce the risk of capture of their teammates (requiring only two people on site, Tweet and possibly the Zoroark), Raymond's plan undoubtedly maximizes the abilities of the people in their team while keeping the risk of their plan being blown before it even started low. Tweet expected nothing less from the man who calls himself the mastermind.

"Now, there are many ways to make our exit. The choice I would personally make is, detonate the explosives on the street, right where all the Enforcers are gathered, and run away in the confusion. Chances are slim anyone would notice, but I welcome other suggestions," Raymond Maverick said, opening the table once again for suggestions. All right, freedom of speech!

“I suggest we make our way away from the bank separately as to not get seen or caught together, and meet up at a designated safehouse. The front door, after detonating the explosives is definitely the best bet for this. I can, of course, just take on the form of someone else and saunter out, but it shouldn’t be an issue for the rest of you either. And I take it that we’ll make sure the president of the bank doesn’t interfere with our call? Mind you, I need to at least hear his voice before I can imitate it properly,” the thief said, having the first word again. Tweet was not happy with the idea of using the confusion to escape as a group. Therefore, Natalie's idea of using a safehouse is a better idea. However, her choice for the location is not the best either. There are still better choices than the front door.

"The thief has a good idea, using a safe house as a kind of a meeting point, but the location chosen Natalie is still too near from the place of attack. It's still risky," Tweet began. A plan of escape began forming in her motherboard/brain. We need to take into consideration where each of us would be when the explosions would start. "Once the explosions start, you know, exploding, each of us would be at different locations inside and around the bank. Of course, those outside would be the ones who could easily flee the area, barring Dominic as he needs to activate the explosion. Tesla would be on her own and proceed somewhere, though I suggest that this somewhere would be something you could evacuate in a flash. I suggest one of the shops near the area. You can easily pretend to be a civilian once you're there." Tweet floated from his seat and in front of the map. "All of us would be concentrated in an area here," Tweet encircled the bank. "Dominic would be in the sewers when everything would start. I see no safe way out of it as traversing the sewer could get you trapped in case I overestimate the strength of the concrete above and the explosion would crumble the whole road. I suggest you get your speed up and just get away from the sewers as fast as possible. When you're above ground already, just do what Tesla did; find an inconspicuous location nearby and be prepared to leave in a moment's notice," Tweet said, looking at the Charmeleon, giving him a nod.

"Sir Raymond would be inside the most secure location inside the bank, barring where their database is. It would be safe to assume that where you are could withstand most attacks so we won't worry about the room collapsing or something. However, you still need to go out there. You are speedy Pokemon so there would be no trouble of you getting out there, am I right?" Tweet paused for a moment, considering what to do with the remaining of the team. The thief, the Enforcer, and herself would be located in places that would make escape hard to achieve.

"Felix Teufel," Tweet began. "You would be in charge of the 'security' right? I think the best thing you could do is wait until Sir Raymond went out before proceeding with them. The two of you could proceed here directly from the bank, as all your speed could let you do that. Among us here, I think the three of you have the most chance of escaping. You're just too speedy. Plus, when all comes down, you're the one most capable of protecting Raymond." Hard as she might deny it, Tweet knows Raymond is still the most crucial piece of their team.

"As for the thief, you're the one who can take advantage of the explosion. You can change what you look like, you can change your voice. Hell, I even think you can make yourself invisible. I think you have lots of ways you can think of how you escape," Tweet told the Zoroark. The Zoroark does not strike her as intelligent or even half-smart. It would be interesting to know where Natalie's capability lies. Tweet found it amusing to think what ways the Zoroark would come up."

"As for me, I would be trying out something. I'll keep it a secret in the meanwhile. If this fail, well, I'll just try to float as fast away as possible from the scene and, by Arceus' mercy, try to escape. After everything has calmed down, all of us still not back here could return and watch as chaos unfolds in the city," Tweet finished. Her motherboard/brain went on hyperdrive with all that thinking. "I can still see some flaws in here but mostly are due to random occurrences and not on our part."

Natalia suggested they move separately, and that was for the best. As Tweet started suggesting their individual escape routes, he leaned on his elbow. He didn't say anything or interrupt her, but she had failed to take many factors into account... Raymond wasn't about to share any of those. Calculations were his part in this. There are plentiful hazards about this, but I am convinced this is our best bet at robbing this bank. There was no other way.

When Tweet finished her suggestions, Raymond raised his hand, tackling Felix's. "We want Felix to stay within the Enforcers. Any hint or evidence against him, you will delete," he said, looking at Tweet, "Felix will have to remain in the bank while they go in. And he will have to improvise to convince them he, too, was put out of commission, like the rest of the security.

Tweet had chosen to keep her escape plan secret. Very well. Raymond was fair, when it benefit him. He kept his secrets, and they kept theirs. He would keep an eye on Tweet, though, in case her plan failed. A captured Nightingale would compromise his entire plan... these little possibilities were what awaited to be thoroughly calculated in his room, for the next week, before the heist. Standing up, Raymond could feel his membranes loosening; he wanted to return to his room badly.

"Everything is settled," he declared steely, his eyes brushing past all of them for one last time. "We hit the bank in exactly seven days from now. Expect additional information on your mail. Off with you, then."

***

Seven Days Later...
Raymond & Tesla

The Accelgor was leaning back on his leafy chair, his membranes peeled off all around, in that same room with the same dim light. The flora there was pretty monstrous, growing off of the filth of the artificial ground. He liked it that way. It had stayed like this since he was fifteen; he hadn't even considered repairing the leak from the ceiling. Liquid was falling on the pond, drip, drop, poisoning the stagnant waters some more. What does that sound mean? He wondered.

The dim light was changing from green to red, to yellow, and back, a circle had to blink through, enough to cause him a headache. After all the brainstorming he had given on his bank plan, he now hoped to rest for some hours before the actual thing happened. But no. There was a persistent, metallic sound coming from the walls, and his head was pulsing painfully. It was a torment of colors, sounds and figures. He was staring at the wall, behind the liquid that was dripping from the ceiling.There was a shadow there, in the same height and shape as him. It was a familiar shadow. He had seen it somewhere else.

"Don't forget," it was saying, "the hidden files, you're going there for the files..."

The last pulse of his headache was sharp, the color of the light changing to dull red. There was another metallic sound that cracked across the walls, piercing his ears. He blinked and after a while, he realized someone was rapping on the door.

"I'm going to come in and give you your meds! Just shouting in case you can't hear me...," the Weavile yelled, opening the door rather quickly. When her eyes met Raymond's, she looked determined. "Obviously you're not fine."

Drops of liquid could be heard, giving the atmosphere a chilly feeling. She walked over to him, taking out the medications and pridefully looking at them. Won't be long until he'll be calmer and perfect. She had to get him better, or else she wouldn't feel satisfied.

"No, get that away," Raymond waved his hand and got off his chair, trying to walk past her.

Tesla forced him back to his chair and showed the medications to him. "As if I'd ever let you go free today! You're gonna go off do something big and you're getting sick before it! Just take the meds and you," she opens the medications, "will be fiiiiine."

"It's gone, Nurse Arana. I have no need for this cure of yours." His irritation was obvious in his voice, but that was to be expected. Tesla had that effect on him, even when she wasn't going on about the meds about his supposed diagnosed psychosis. The government didn't want to lose him into this ailment, so they'd sent Tesla to heal him. Her, out of all the people... perhaps they had predicted he would refuse to take the cure, so they had chosen a stubborn person for the job. All he could do was change the subject. "Your purpose in the mission today will be more dangerous than it sounds. There is a variable I had not taken into account in the equation of my plan. When escorting the civilians out, you will have to face the Commander of the task force of the Enforcers. He is not the as stupid as I would dare hoping. You will be treading on ice with him. Put up your best display of..." he smirked his face, as if he was having trouble believing what he was about to say, "... charisma."

Tesla flinched at his request, not knowing if she could pull that off. Folding her arms, she kept the medications in her right hand. "You'll get the meds one day you like it or not... it's my goal," she looked away. She didn't know how to respond to his new information. "As if I were a robot. Of course I got some charisma in me. It's hard to believe but I got what it takes!" she placed her free hand over her heart, trying not to show her doubt. She wasn't sure if she'll be able to lie, since she never does. With that thought out, her ears folded downwards at the thought of the Commander of the task force. "You know I never lie, Sir Raymond," she put emphasis on his name before continuing. "I'll perfect my lines on my way there till even I believe myself... uh, yeah. In my head of course. Not that i was going to talk to myself or anything."

I trust you will not fail, Raymond almost said, but he held back for some reason. A bleep sounded from the computer and he checked out, holding his head. It was a message from Winston, notifying him that it was time to send the mails. He looked back at his nurse. "Take this," he said, pulling something out his sticky membranes. It was a red button with the word 'Easy' on it. He pressed it once, and the damn thing spoke in a handsome voice.

"That was easy," the button spoke.

"It's the Easy button," Raymond said enigmatically, with the start of a smile. He handed her the device with no further explanation. "Now, escort yourself out of the room. I have yet to make the final preparations."

"Yes sir!" Tesla said sarcastically, copying a soldier's salutation. She then returned to normal and glanced at the red button. "Ladies first," she eyed Raymond before leaving the room. Once out, she closed the door and glanced at the button. The voice... was alluring. "That was easy" it spoke right after she had pressed the button. She walked around, wandering and pondering. What would the button be for? This was from Sir Raymond himself, and he always takes things pretty seriously. This can't be a joke... why this red button that talks? It's odd. She pressed it again, letting out the same voice to speak out into the hallway.

Raymond remained motionless on his chair, at last in peace. He pressed a button on his touch screen, opening the Pelipper Network Services on the Newhaven Web, the city's equivalent of our internet. He started recording a voice mail that was to be sent to all the Nightingales, besides Tesla; his voice was distorted by an application in such way that it sounded metallic, unnaturally deep and scary, as if taken out of a horror movie. It was a voice that surely belonged to any of the known Pokemon. Of course, that was made so nobody could trace him back, in case something went wrong.

"Delete this message thereafter," he started in a serious tone that made him sound alien. "Pay attention," he continued, more demandingly, "you may have received a box, wherever you live - or be about to. This box contains a device. Take it with you. Use it for ranged communication. It is essential we maintain radio contact at all times during the mission. You know what you have to do. For a better future."

Natalia gently bounced the small, round item in her hand, her eyes following it tirelessly. She’d received it in a box almost at the same time as the email from Raymond. Catching it, she moved it out to hold it between her claws, raising it up and looking at it in the light of the lamp standing next to her sofa, which she was sitting in. Her entire living room, if not house, was actually rather nicely decorated. Paintings on the walls, rugs, tables, chairs, lamps, drawers, everything usually in a nice apartment. The only odd thing was the lack of windows, but there was definitely a reason for that.

Eventually, she got up and moved through the living room, her long her swaying softly left and right behind her as she moved into the ‘office’ if you could call it that. It was decorated with a desk with a computer on top of it, one wall replaced with a very large bookcase, and a small drawer off to the side. She placed the small, round item on top of the desk and moved over to her bookcase, reaching up to take a hold of a reddishly brown book, pulling it a little out before letting go. With a whirr and a near silent grinding noise, the middle bit of the bookcase opened up, revealing a duffle bag and quite a lot of gadgets and ‘toys’.

She began going through several of the items, checking them over before chucking them into the duffle bag; A couple of small, flat mirrors on tiny tripods, a few round, flat devices about the size of a tennis ball, several, small pellets, a pair of goggles, a phone (Which was custom-built to fit with her claws, as most devices in the city was, due to the different species) and many other things. After nearly filling the bag, she slung it over her shoulder, smirking as she strapped it in place across her chest. She then picked out the belt with the knife on it and strapped it around her waist before she finally tucked on the book again, shutting the secret compartment.

“Let’s see if we can make this happen. I’m curious to find out whether you’re this so-called ‘mastermind’, Ray’.” She gave a little smirk to herself as she picked up the small device that had been sent to her, gently wriggling it into her ear to sit in place, making sure it wasn’t going to budge once she was on the job. She took a deep breath before turning off the lights and heading out the door.

About half an hour later, Natalia was standing in the alley, standing perfectly still in the shadows of one of the large buildings on either side of her, using her native ability to be able to blend in perfectly with the shadows. She kept glancing up and down along the alley, waiting for Raymond and Tesla to show up. She checked her clock once more and finally decided that it was time. She stepped out of the shadows after having made sure that her ability caused everyone looking at her, not to see a Zoroark with a duffle bag on her back, but rather the figure of Winston, Raymond’s Dusknoir servant.

"Dom!" a tiny voice called. Dominic grumbled and turned around to face the opposite direction of the voice. "Dom!" The voice was louder this time, had followed his change in position, and from what Dominic could understand, it was calling him dumb. "I'm not dumb I swear she told me she was eighteen," he muttered, turning around again. "DOMINIC." He groaned and slowly opened his eyes to allow them time to adjust to the light. "What, Leslie? What is it?" He opened his eyes fully and met his little sister's gaze.

"I- I- I heard your computer making a noise! It said- It- It- It said…" Dominic waited patiently for her to get her words out. She had a stutter that frustrated almost everyone who spoke with her, but Dom was never bothered. He always made sure to never interrupt her and let her finish talking. "It said, 'You got mail!' Do- do- do- do I ever get to have some- some- some mail?" Dominic smiled at her. "Of course you do! Watch, pretty soon you're going to become a very important person and people will be sending you mail all the time! Your inbox will always be full."

He got up from the couch and walked quickly towards his bedroom. He pushed off the toys that probably Leslie had spread out onto the keyboard and shook the mouse, prompting the computer to wake up from sleep mode. He switched to the tab with his email and noticed that he'd been sent a voice mail from Sir Ray. The small Charmander joyously bounded into the room, obviously completely unaware of what the message was communicating. "What- what- what did you get?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Uh, Leslie, it's nothing important. Just spam. Go play with Sammy," Dom said, not wanting to play the recording in her presence. "Oh… Alright." She disappeared from the door. Dominic went over to it and shut it, then returned to the computer and played the voice mail. After listening to the message, he deleted it and then eyed the box that sat by the computer monitor. Inside was the device for the ranged communication.

-

Dominic went to the emptiest street he could possibly find in order to carry out the plan without being seen. He lowered himself into the sewer and walked along it, turning corners and exploring until he was sure he was in the right street. The bank's street was always very crowded and entering the sewer there meant ruining the plan. He kept his vibrant flaming tail raised as high as possible to prevent the nasty green sewage water from touching it. At some parts there was cement raised up higher than the filthy liquid and when the opportunity presented itself, Dom walked along those 'paths'.

The occasional Rattata would scurry past him, but they didn't attack or give him any kind of problem. Either his appearance was too intimidating or his tail was too blinding for these creatures that never saw the light of day. Dom turned corners this way and that with the dynamite he'd received from Tweet in tow. He'd been supplied with that dynamite, a blasting cap, and a fuse. Soon he reached what he thought was the correct spot, and he climbed a ladder to peer out through the tiny holes in the sewer cover. Sure enough, he was in the right spot.

Dom wasn't even sure how he knew where exactly to go, since at every corner the sewage was dark and dreary and disgusting all the same. Maybe it was just intuition. He lowered himself down again and began setting up the dynamite in the appropriate spot, attaching the blasting cap and the fuse. He walked backward, unrolling the fuse and getting as far from the dynamite as he possibly could. Now all he had to do was wait for Ray's signal to light the fuse and then get the hell out of dodge.

So Raymond would ensure Felix was assigned to the security at the door to the inner ground floor. The Accelgor had deep connections, perhaps too deep to uproot if Felix had been under different circumstances and looking to topple the crime lord. The Blaziken was silent; he didn't see much need to speak. One claw had come up to rub his beak as he listened to the plan and to the others' suggestions.

If anything about this plan bothered Felix in particular, it was that he wouldn't know which Enforcers would be on site at the time of the heist. He had worked with plenty of other Pokemon whom he could not be friends with, or would not, but there were a few who were, like Evander. If the Machoke were there... No turning back. I don't have to like it, though.

Next to him, Dominic muttered something to himself that Felix didn't quite hear. Nail...whats? Then Felix remembered that Tweet was speaking of how he should make his exit and perked slightly, beak opening to speak. Sir Raymond beat him to the punch, stating that he wanted Felix to remain within the Enforcers. The Blaziken anticipated some trouble in convincing others that he'd been put out of commission, but hey, it wasn't like he could up and disappear or anything.

Seven days...time enough to figure out my act, yes?

~~~~~

"Delete this message thereafter. Pay attention, you may have received a box, wherever you live - or be about to. This box contains a device. Take it with you. Use it for ranged communication. It is essential we maintain radio contact at all times during the mission. You know what you have to do. For a better future."

Clicking 'Delete', Felix watched as the voice message disappeared from his computer screen. It was higher quality than the more common computers, but despite all the Teufels' work, they never did upgrade to computers that were even better or more advanced. Maybe Father thought it would be assuming of them to do so. Either that, or simply because he saw it as an unnecessary luxury. So long as they had updated, working computers, and all that jazz.

Heh. They would flip if they found me out. The thought brought a grin to Felix's face as he stood up and stepped away, eyes glancing over his immaculate bedroom. Habit had carried over from his childhood, when leaving his bedroom untidy brought him punishment, and from military training. Everything was in its place, though Felix didn't consider himself the type to freak if anything was misplaced. Picking up the device that he'd received in the box that came a few hours before, Felix fit the earpiece into one of his ears. His watch and thigh-holster were on, as always. Next came his pistol; the ballistic vest, his standard Enforcer uniform; and the duty belt. The Blaziken reached for the scabbard that hung on one wall before pausing then shaking his head.

Sieghard looked up as Felix walked past the kitchen. "What, haven't left yet?" the elder Blaziken joked as he reached for the pantry's door. It was just Felix and the middle brother who lived in the apartment, a couple streets away from the Enforcers HQ. "And without your shotgun? You usually take it with to the bank." Not that it was absolutely necessary to take it.

"No, I vanted to see your reaction first," Felix retorted, grabbing whatever food was on the counter without looking beyond the fact that it was ready to go. He was already halfway out the front door when he heard Sieghard's cry of surprise. "Turn zat flashlight off, vould you?" Felix quipped before shutting the door behind him. Nothing but a very short nuisance, but there hadn't been time to set up something more.

~~~~~

It didn't take long, about a half-hour, for Felix to walk into the National Bank. After signing in, the Blaziken found himself stationed near the door to the inner ground floor. Just as Sir Raymond had said. Hands clasped behind his back, Felix looked to one side of the door and gave the Machoke standing there a nod of acknowledgement. Oh, Evander, why'd you have to be here now of all times?

The Weavile walked out of the Mansion, Ray following right beside her. She had placed everything she needed in her small medicine bag. It only had one strap, so she slung it across one shoulder and let the bag rest on the other side of her body. It contained everything she needed for the events that are about to happen. At first she carried doubts, since she's not used to actually performing orders given by anybody for... a rebellion. The closest she's done was go against the rules and try to get to her brother. Of course, that attempt failed. It only serves as a reminder that you cannot change one's faith, or so she believes...

She started to recite her lines, doing as she told Ray she would do. Of course it would confuse people around her since she used her hand gestures to remind her what she had to say. Of course a walking child would look at her funny if she suddenly formed a circle with her arms.

"Hey, don't look at me like that... it's distracting," she would tell random kids who would pass by her.

This all reminded her of her brother, and she couldn't help but wonder how it would turn out. What if it didn't go right? What if she failed? What if somebody fails and she can't save them? So many questions and so little time... in fact, she stopped her train of thought when she saw a familiar face floating not far from them; Ray's butler. 'Guess she's ready. Ugh, I hate how I am not ready, might need to lie, and my claws weren't sharpened!' she thought, suddenly realizing she had stopped practicing. "Ugh, I gotta stop distracting myself...help me here Ray," she mumbled, but it wasn't loud enough for him to hear.

They reached the disguised Zoroark, which in reality was the sneaky Thief, in the alley. Tesla folded her arms, pretending it was indeed the butler. At least she didn't have to act like she didn't know him, since she DID have to be in disguise... right?

Tweet Jonias

Delete this message thereafter. Pay attention, you may have received a box, wherever you live - or be about to. This box contains a device. Take it with you. Use it for ranged communication. It is essential we maintain radio contact at all times during the mission. You know what you have to do. For a better future." It was all the e-mail said. True to his word, the Count did send the device. Tweet is rather impressed by his bravado; sending the box to where Tweet was working. Smack dab in the middle of the enemy lines. Tweet examined the package when she was alone and found that it as just the standard radio communication device. Well, standard for her. She's not quite sure what standard means to common people. It was heavily encrypted (heavily if we're looking at some random cryptographer in her department, but to her? Piece of cake.), and not too heavy. She can strap in somewhere in her body or conceal it under some shirt. It would be an easy hide.

The mission is starting right now, as far as the Porygon-Z knows. Her place in the mission would come severely later, when Felix had already opened the doors to the vault. His mission would be really crucial as Tweet would nor dare risk hacking into electronic doors. Skillful as she was, electric doors were more heavily guarded. She have only tried once, and that was to her office when she forgot her keys back at home.

Anyway, Tweet excused herself from work and went outside, under the guise of needing some fresh air. (What do you mean I don't breath? I breath, for Arceus' sake. Just not oxygen.) She proceeded to an alleyway that directly connects the factory to the bank. She floated, humming happily. She's still not nervous; that would come later if the Enforcer-Traitor failed to manually open the door. Nervousness and panic would then set in. But otherwise, she's fine.

~

The bank was a huge establishment, but Tweet was not intimidated. After all, she's come here only for the database, and that is the only place she plans on going. Touring the area would come after if her plan failed. If worst comes to worst, she had downloaded the map of the inside to her brain so she'll know her way around. She entered one of the many air vents lining the side of the building. It was hot. Dang it Tweet. What were you expecting? Air conditioning units? She pulled out the map from her database and located herself.

"Okay. I'm pretty far away, but hey. This is an air vent, who's going to check in here?" she asked herself. She navigated throughout the many twist and turns of the air ventilation system and reached the spot nearest to the database room. She peeked through the hole and saw a Hitmonlee guard, armored to the bone. Complete with a bullet-proof vest.

That reminds me. Tweet checked her database, and downloaded her sniper rifle. It was a Barret M98B, shock-modded of course. Tweet smiled as she confirmed it. She did not know how it works but she managed to reduce all her weapons to downloadable data. She has yet to try if it was possible for everybody.

She thinks she has no need for the gun. At this close of a distance, her attacks would be more practical to use. Now, let the Blaziken do his job. Tweet crouched, keeping an eye on the Hitmonlee and the door. Waiting. Waiting.

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